The present invention relates to body armor systems worn for protection against projectile threats such as rifle and handgun bullets, and shrapnel.
Persons exposed to projectile threats, such as police officers and soldiers, may seek a certain level of protection by wearing armored clothing. Low velocity projectiles such as handgun rounds, fragmentation rounds from a grenade or mortar, and miscellaneous shrapnel may be countered by so-called “soft armor.” Soft armor is worn in the form of jackets, vests, etc. which are composed of assemblies of ballistic fabric such as those formed from DuPont Kevlar® fibers or of Spectra® ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibers from Honeywell. The soft armor is often fabricated as flexible panels which are received within pockets or pouches formed in fabric vests or jackets. In more serious threat situations, where higher velocity rifle rounds and fragments must be countered, soft armor has typically been supplemented with hard armor fabricated of rigid plates of ceramic, polymer, or metal.
Most Ballistic helmets in use today are flared at the lower edge. This shape makes the helmets easier to produce by allowing single direction molds and also aids in airflow under the helmet, and may in some circumstances allow greater range of motion. Although this flared shape may be helpful in defending against air-bursting munitions traveling downward toward the wearer from a point above, this shape leaves the serviceman's head exposed to projectiles coming from ground-level or subterranean munitions—a significant threat in certain modern conflict situations. A projectile from such a munition typically travels towards the wearer with an upward angle of incidence. A helmet with a flared lower edge exposes significant portions of the head and upper neck to this upwardly traveling threat.
What is needed is a ballistic helmet assembly which protects the lower skull and upper neck region of a wearer while preserving necessary range of motion, and which can be retrofitted to existing helmet systems.